a psychology student who blogs her life.

Category: Travel

I’m so excited to do this post because I know that a lot of people have asked me since I’ve gone a tonne of questions about Stockholm and I really wanted to direct people to this page so they can get all their answers. Hope you enjoy!

First of all, my boyfriend George and I decided to visit Stockholm for his 21st birthday as we love to explore different places and it was one we wanted to tick off. The actual hotel and flights were actually pretty much cheaper than Barcelona surprisingly. We ended up deciding to go with Ryanair so it was cheap and cheerful, we paid just over £100 for both of us there and back with a 15kg case to share which is actually really good. We flew from Stanstead to Skavsta and got the bus service from Skavsta to Stockholm which was really good and easy to use as they have an app. Then I booked a Scandic hotel, right in the centre of Stockholm. It was called “Scandic No 53” and it was on the Kungsgatan road. Here’s the link: http://www.booking.com/hotel/se/htl-kungsgatan.html Overall, it was a decent price only paying about £200 to be right in the centre of Stockholm was definitely worth it and for 2 people the trip only came to just over £300 for four days!

On the first day we decided to just have a really relaxed day because we were travelling so much. Then on the second we went up to see the Royal Palace which was so cool. George and I were pretty shocked at how close you can actually get to the Palace as we weren’t used to that being from England and there being so many guards around Buckingham.

As you can probably tell from the pictures it was quite cold but the air was so fresh, we wrapped up warm and had an amazing time sightseeing despite the cold. Picture below is the view from the Palace of the parliament.

Next, we went to the old town and saw all the amazing Scandinavian buildings which is what I was really looking forward to about Sweden. There are so many different types of buildings all right next to each other and it all works so well. I could’ve spend hours walking down all them roads looking at all the little shops and it was only a short walk from our Hotel.

We also went to the Museum of Medieval Stockholm which was free admission and was really interesting to learn a lot about the history of Stockholm and see a lot of cool artefacts.

The next day we went to the Vasa Museum one of the main attractions in Stockholm and I have to say it was worth it. You think that if someone tells you to spend hours looking at one boat would be weird but a 400 year old giant boat was definitely something I’ll never get to see many times in my life!

Overall, we did a lot of cool sightseeing in this beautiful place and I definitely plan on going back to Stockholm during a different time of year (just to see it in a different perspective). The place is absolutely beautiful and although everything is a tad more expensive than it is everywhere else, it definitely is one of my favourite places I’ve visited.

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As you can probably tell from the pictures this post is basically explaining how my day at the Making of Harry Potter went!

So for my birthday in April my wonderful boyfriend booked me a gift certificate for us to choose when we wanted to go to the Making of Harry Potter. This was so exciting for me as I have watched the films with my brother every single year it came out and became rather obsessed with it for a long time. So as we knew we were both free this week we thought we would go now and enjoy a little night away too.

So we decided last minute that we wanted to stay so we found a cute little hotel only half an hour drive (compared to a two hour journey back to Birmingham) from the Warner Bros Studios in Leavesden. We found this pretty easily from booking.com and found something that would suit our needs with free parking, a restaurant and lovely scenery for only £60 for the night! This little hotel was in Chesham which is very close to many towns full of character and is good for anyone who wants to either get the train to London or explore the countryside!

Check in was very easy and the staff were lovely, some of the decor was a bit dated and could do with an upgrade but for what we were after it was perfect!

Now for the fun bit!

So as we drove down we got to Warner Bros Studios about half an hour early which actually turned out to be good since we could have a drink and relax before we had to queue up.

Before you even walk through the doors you’re welcomed by the massive chess pieces from the first film which I fan-girled about so much, but that was definitely just the beginning. As you queue up you’re welcomed by the cupboard under the stairs which is fully accurate to the film. You are then walked into a room where you watch a short film from the Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson who shared that these studios were their second home for ten years of their life which I found very special. The magic just keeps on flowing and the more I went on the more I appreciated the films and the thought that went into every single detail. For those of you who are interested, here are a range of images just to show you a glimpse of what I mean.

I don’t want to give too much away for those of you who still haven’t went but it is honestly worth the money and I thought it would ruin the films for me but it has actually made me love them more!

Just make sure when you go to get a Souvenir Butterbeer mug which was very cute but I have to warn you it does have an acquired taste so if there is two of you I’d advise you share one.

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So as you would know if you read my last post I have spent the last three days in London and have enjoyed every bit of it. Having a bit of a comedown from this adventure so I thought I would do a post about what we did, how much everything was and some tips about London!

Transport and Accomodation:

As we live in Birmingham and transport wasn’t too big of a deal my boyfriend and I focused on hotels first of all. We looked at many sites like Trivago and stuff like that and didn’t find them to be too helpful so we just went straight to the Premier Inn Website. We found this to be quick and easy for finding the best possible deal and best place for us to stay. For us this was the Victoria Premier Inn on Gillingham St. You can find this here. It was a great hotel, well located just down the road from Victoria Coach and Train Station which has links to pretty much everywhere. There prices start at £76 a night which is really good for London and the room and customer service was all lovely and quick. Also, it’s good to note that when we checked out they asked if we wanted to leave luggage with them, which is really good if you have a late train or coach that day!

For transport to London we chose to go by coach, this was the cheapest option with a return ticket for two people costing £21. It was comfy and direct which is a change for some coaches and we went with National Express. As for getting around London itself we chose to use the tube, I know this is a scary thought for some people (including me) but they are simply the easiest way to get around. A travel card when bought on the day cost £12 for unlimited travel on any zone which is amazing! We also both had railcards which made it £8! All I’d say is get the “tube map” app on your phone which tells you which line to take and which way for where ever you need to go!

What to See

So we pretty much did everything we possibly could! This was George’s first time in London so as soon as we got there we went to Buckingham Palace which was a short walk away from Victoria and was lovely because we also had a walk around Green Park. Then, we went to Oxford Street, my most exciting bit because I got to go to Lush Oxford Street (expect loads of lush related posts about that).

The next day, we saw a lot, getting the tube to Leicester Square and going to M&M World was a fun and quirky thing to do, we got personalised M&Ms which was so cute but quite a novelty. Piccadilly Circus was very impressive and a short walk away from Trafalgar Square where we went to the National Gallery, this was free and really cool to see paintings by Monet and Van Gogh. After that we went to the Tower of London, Tower Bridge where there is many different restaurants just over the road from Tower of London. We then walked towards Millenium Bridge just to be a complete Harry Potter nerd. Then finally, we went on the London Eye. This was incredible even though the weather was not on our side at all it was still great to see the whole of London from above, would recommend because it’s well worth the money.

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Hey Guys, so excited to be writing this the day before I go on a two night trip to the capital city for my birthday! I thought I would just write a few things about some of the products and essentials I am taking with me and why!

Apologies for the crappy quality from the picture…

So beauty, from Lush I’m taking LOM, Snow Fairy and New which are all pretty beaten up but I thought they’d be a good idea as sometimes the quality of the shampoo that you get in hotels doesn’t quite cut it and me and George have not used these up much so thought it’d be cute to use the little bottles!

I’m also taking my Simple cleanser, I feel this is a really nice moisturising one for taking off make up and for also just keeping my skin feeling soft after a long day. Also, the weather is meant to be rubbish so I want something that will be soothing!

I’m also taking my Canon EOSM to take arty blog pictures and document this amazing trip (I will also be going to Lush Oxford Street) and I am taking my Kodak Play Sport for vlogging on my youtube channel! So if you want to check that out you can subscribe here.

Just wanted this one to be a quick one and I want to know some of the interesting products you guys take when you go away..

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Hey guys, this will hopefully be my first of many travel posts on this blog. I absolutely love to travel and I hopefully will be doing more very soon! Thought I’d start this one off with a post about our trip to Barcelona.

So me and my boyfriend George were lucky enough to have the money to book this trip late last year, it was a spur of the moment thing but would only cost both of us £200 including flights. We used Easyjet who were so quick and easy to both book and fly with and we didn’t have to check in any luggage. We only took two small suitcases with us which we got on Ebay for £12 each.

Accommodation

image from the website

As we were out of season, we found a really cheap apartment on Homeaway which you can find here. It was super cosy and just right for the two of us! It is perfect for a travelling couple who would prefer to eat in on their trip as there is a handy supermarket just down the road with all the necessities.

What to do there

We only had 4 days in Barcelona but we definitely filled them up! The first day we went to the famous Park Guell which is famous for the Gaudi art that the park is filled to the brim with. It was quite cheap to get in, I think it was about 20 euros each but you’re allowed to spend as much time as you want there. It was pretty sunny that day for being late winter but it definitely was weather where you could really appreciate the artwork.

The next few days we did a number of things, we went down to Las Ramblas a few times where there were amazing shops and restaurants including the Hard Rock Cafe which we went to on our last day. The Cathedral was beautiful and on another day we were lucky enough to go to Nou Camp and Montjuic which is the beautiful art museum with fountains and extravagant pillars. We also went down to the Harbour, to the Aquarium and to the Zoo. The zoo was very good for the last day as we had to leave our apartment early but had a night flight. What we didn’t know but were glad to find out is that the zoo had massive lockers which only cost 1 euro to hold them and then you got that back! The Gothic District was definitely worth a walk around also, due to it’s amazing features, little cafes and little stores all dotted around. Also there was a lot of artwork around there which was incredible to see.

Tips that I took away from my travels

Barcelona is a beautiful city I never thought one place could hold so much culture and have so much to offer but I really do miss it! One thing I didn’t expect though is so much walking! Me and George probably walked 4 miles each day at Barcelona so I would prepare for that. Either book a hotel or apartment near all the things that you want to do or budget in a metro pass or taxis. The thing we found was that taxi ranks aren’t nearby many things and you can get conned by them so prepare for that.

Also, another thing that I found useful which I researched before I went was the Aerobus! It is so simple to get you from the airport, you pay 5.50 euros and it stopped at 3 main points in the city. However, if you catch it back remember to check which terminal you are departing from and get the right bus for that terminal as the terminals are a good 20 euro taxi apart from each other.

So that is all I wanted to say about our trip, really hope you enjoyed this post and I hope to be doing one soon about my trip to Dubai!